Freezing Rain

We had some freezing rain last night. It's always a good idea to go outside with a camera after a freezing rain...

Christmas Day at Ralph and Jean's

Ralph and Jean hosted the Christmas Day brunch...

The highlight of the day, of course, was a rousing game of Scum. Mark, do you all play Scum up there? (There are other names for the game also such as President, King, and ##%&*@#!) You don't have to play with hats, but it sometimes helps the Scum know their place (see above). I never made it to the executive office, but I derived a lot of enjoyment trash talking my opponents.

Happy Holidays

Wow, the Lindstroms have been unbelievably busy the past month, bouncing from one thing to the next. I've barely had time to glance at the round robin. I think this is my first post? A good time was had by all at Greg and Denise's in mid December.







On Christmas Eve some of us met at our house.

Hidalgo from Fidalgo

We are down in Anacortes, which is the main town on Fidalgo Island, visiting John and Heidi for Christmas. Here are a few photos of their dog. His name is Hidalgo.








Christoffer and Holly on the edge.


























Here you can see that he is a towing machine. When you take him for a walk he pulls with all of his might. Notice the tension on the line and the collar choking him. If anyone knows how to train dogs, please let us know how to get him to walk normally.

PS MERRY CHRISTMAS

Thanks

Haven't stopped in for a few days. Thanks all for the kind B'day greetings. Who is that guy with his head sticking out in the photos. Nice stairway! Winter might actually be here this afternoon. Thanks also for coming to our annual Swedish Christmas gathering, you all made it really special! Especially the fine Apples to Apples excitement!

Christmas Day

We'll be with Faith's side of the family on Christmas Eve this year. Is anyone doing anything on Christmas day?

Paul's first post using the new beta

Happy Birthday Greg... "but more importantly" it looks like I'm able to post with this new beta version. :)

I appreciated Mark's posting of the old Christmas cards last year. There are a number of people who don't quite make the cut for our annual Christmas card - business contacts, politicians, etc. But, at the same time, one would like to do something more than a mere "Merry Christmas". This is where these old cards come in so handy. Simply email these old cards to these acquaintances and everybody's happy. I'm emailing the above card this year.

Happy Birthday Greg

Here are a few photos of Greg from August of 2005. I like the stairway photo best because he is more normal compared to everyone else. (talking about his height)

Here's my first beta post

Here's my post. I had to go through a process to sign up on the beta blog and agree to some contractual stuff that I didn't read very closely, but it wasn't too hard. Start by going to the Blogger Dashboard...

It looks like they have made it easier to do some things like:

• different font type and sizes
• different colored text But you have to be careful what colors you choose. Some of them don't work well with our blog template. We might consider a new template with a white background...
  
• It's easier to add images! After you upload your image, you can move it around by just dragging it! And they've hidden all the messy html code for the image!
  

We finished butchering and packaging our last pig today. Slaughtering turkeys and pigs may sound gruesome and indeed the kill is always difficult to do. But other than the actual kill, the rest is enjoyable because we always have volunteers helping out and it becomes a community event with lots of conversation.

Now on the new Beta Blogger

Everyone please try posting something on this new beta blogger and see if it works OK. If it does not work for you... too bad. I might have to re-invite you back on. We all know if you've been naughty or nice. Watch out and be good for goodness sake.

ICY Screensavers

ice bubbles








ice star








ice feathers

Extra pork

We're going to have extra pork this year. Do any of you want to buy some? Flat rate $3.00 per pound. Maybe some of you want to split a 1/2 or 1/4. 1/4 will probably be about 40 pounds.

The e Round Robin

The e Round Robin
This is a lazy, and cheap way to contact you, Mark. I tried to forward Amy's urgent prayer request for her visa to you on your new email addresss but it came back. I wrote it down as mstyns@gmail.com. Is that correct?
By the way, our friends that I told you about that are moving to Alaska, are interested in looking you up. He may call you in a week or so. If you receive a call from Dan and Stephanie Overland, you'll know that is the couple I told you about. Their ministry sounds exciting! He may not be able to contact you by email if I gave him the wrong address.
your sis,
Jean

Clever Clue of the Month

John Morton wants you to break any possible ties and independently declare your choice for 'clever clue of the month'.

Christmas Eve

Hear ye! Hear ye! The Lindstroms are extending an open invitation for a Christmas Eve party at our house. Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday this year. We'll be checking around in mid December to see who's interested.

Another old-timer

I may be old now, but I have never appeared in the "Bygones" column in the newspaper

John Morton - Renaissance Man

Like many a person in that era, John Morton, Faith's Fantastic Forebear, dabbled in science and had a great number of patents in his name.

Who is this man?

I realize this question is totally unfair, but who is this man?

Going back, going way back

This is from a batch of half a dozen slides. There are no numbers. There is no date. Most of the photos, including this one, are from Chub Lake.
But then there were two slides from this location, which I am certain is Mineral Street. So. . .when were these pictures taken and who are those people at Mineral Street?

One If By Land

On that famous night of April 18, 1775, it had been determined that if the land was snowless then Paul Revere would ride his horse to warn the troops but if snow was still on the ground then it would have been Faith's Fearless Forebear, an expert skier. There was no snow and the rest is history.

Faith's Famous Forebear

Paul was being modest when he merely mentioned that John Morton signed the Declaration of Independence, and held various legal offices. If you check out the internet you will find he had a long and illustrious life with numerous achievements. For example: he was one of the founding members of a "stringed quartet" known as the Electric Eels.

Unfair Question

I realize this question is totally unfair, but who is this man?

Camping with Steve

When were these pictures taken?

Kids On A Couch

Ok here's where we test our mettle. This is from a batch of 7 rectangular numbered slides with no date. All it says on the back is "Color Transparency". They are all really dark and needed work to bring out the light. I'm guessing Paul has the rest of this batch and these were left out cuz of the darkness. So. . .when were these picture taken?

Cool Cold Colder

Saturday about noon the trees and branches are frosted. This was the first snow and it may stay on the ground.












This is the 31st, halloween. The lake is about 1/2 iced over and making more ice.












November 1 and the lake is all ice, less than an inch thick and not strong enough. My boot was soaked.













This was taken by the camera on ice.

Does this help?

Oops. I should have noticed this photo sooner. This should resolve a few questions. But I still can't upload here.

Joe Cool (Turned Around)

Guess what I did? I posted this photo to the beta version web site I created and then linked to it. I guess that will have to do until the posting problem is solved. This photo is from a batch of 5 "near-orphans" numbered 4 through 8. The month and year is marked. Let's see who's the first to guess within a month or two.

TEST

Seems to work for me.

Clever Clue of the Month

It worked for me! The photo below is about 85kb. This is from our North Shore trip last month.

What's a three letter word for 'One with a pole position?' or a four letter word for 'Fix for good?' Find out at the web-site and while you're at it vote for the clever clue of the month.